This application relates to roll-out waste bins, and more particularly to a feature on the exterior of such a roll-out waste bin that permits the bin to be lifted by an automated lifter mounted on a waste disposal truck for emptying into the waste collection hopper of the truck, and then to be lowered back to the ground. Such bins generally include a large receptacle mounted on wheels with a hinged lid for closing the receptacle except during loading or emptying. The front of the bin includes a retention bar which, in conjunction with a downward lip along the front top rim of the waste bin, is gripped by the automated lifter in order to lift and dump the contents of the waste bin. In typical prior art waste bins a retention bar receiving area is provided on the exterior of the waste bin which holds the retention bar. In its most basic form, this receiving area is formed of two parallel, vertical walls, external to the interior volume of the waste bin, set apart at a distance that is less than the length of the retention bar. See FIG. 1. Each of these vertical walls has an aperture, through which the retention bar is placed, with enough clearance to allow the retention bar to spin freely. See FIG. 1A.
Another embodiment of this receiving area has front closeout walls that connect the vertical walls to the waste bin receptacle, thereby creating two retention bar housings, each housing having one vertical wall, one front closeout wall and two external walls of the waste bin receptacle. See FIGS. 2, 2A.
A pair of ribs, one residing inside each of the retention bar housings extends from one of the external walls of the retention bar housings. These ribs trap the retention bar after it has been slid into position through the retention bar housing apertures, preventing the retention bar from moving side-to-side enough to be removed. The ribs are positioned in the retention bar housings to normally interfere with the retention bar and thereby prevent the retention bar from being pulled free of free of the bin. In order to insert the retention bar, these ribs have a suitable degree of flexibility, and are typically bent by the retention bar sufficiently to allow the retention bar to slide past the ribs and enter the retention bar housings, whereupon the ribs spring back into their normal positions, locking the retention bar into the retention bar housings.
This arrangement requires considerable maneuvering to insert the retention bar into both apertures, past the ribs and into the retention bar housings. See FIGS. 3, 3A.
This application discloses several embodiments of retention bars that are easy to install and remain securely in the retention bar housings during use. This application also discloses a method of installing a retention bar according to the several retention bar embodiments into the retention bar housings. In each embodiment, either one rib or no ribs in the retention bar housings are necessary.